Are you really a Social Networking Expert?

Last week, my good friend and former co worker Derek Showerman, wrote a blog post about the amount of people out there claiming to be a Social Networking Expert or Guru. He said it made him feel “uncomfortable” I have to say when I first read the piece I was highly offended. This comes from having given him a #followfriday shout out the same day referring to him as a dreaded, “Social Networking Guru” I used Guru because it has less letters that expert. When I tweet #followfriday recommendations, I try give some context on why I think people should decide to follow them. After a couple of unsatisfactory DM's back and forth, we went old school actually spoke on the phone. We had a stellar conversation on why he feels the term is overused.

I agree with him in some respects. Those of us that have been in the community and social networking world since prior to the term Web 2.0 went mainstream are now inundated with people coming into the industry. Many think simply being on Twitter and Facebook qualify them to do a social networking strategy for a Fortune 1000 company. Think again! This is why I still affirm Derek is an experienced social networking professional and consultant. I have seen him in action with huge deployments. He gets it and is patient explaining how to proceed to ensure success. I am lucky to have him and many others like this I have worked in the industry. Perhaps, the social networking industry can learn from legal, real estate, and sales professionals:

➢ Corporate Attorney vs. Ambulance Chaser
➢ Real Estate Broker vs. Happy Housewife with a Real Estate License
➢ Consultative Sales Professional vs. Used Car Sales Dude

Beyond this, if you consider yourself a social guru, are you practicing what you preach? Actually networking! I have been very impressed with my own network reaching out to forward job postings and sending out recommendations for positions. If you are simply paying attention to your own brand are you really networking? Are you joining the conversation or simply sitting on the sidelines? How are you sharing your expertise with your friends that aren’t gurus with their job searches? When was the last time you forwarded a job posting to a friend in need? Social Networking is just that NETWORKING! It is sharing information to advance business or personal relationships. I am interested in hearing about your successes. Here are three of mine:

➢ Recruiter sent out an email blast on a job posting. I received it from the recruiter and from three different former colleagues.

➢ Found a company online that needs a Sales Manager. I checked LinkedIn and discovered the Hiring manager was a second degree connection. I asked for an introduction. The result was an offer for a phone interview.

➢ Have a recruiter (my former business partner with Randstad) trying to get my resume in front of a hiring manager. Another former colleague is doing some consulting work for them and also has provided a recommendation.

Okay, maybe only one of these used a Web 2.0 application. However, social networking is networking first and using web tools second. Regardless, if any of these cases result in offers, they have all helped to provide me a chance at three great opportunities. My mother told me a long time ago to be very careful of my business relationships and to treat people well as I progressed in my career. I have always been very proactive to help someone with a resume re-write, provide references, and pass along job openings as I heard of them. I completely believe that kindness showed is returned in spades. Thank you to everyone that has been supportive in my networking efforts. You continue to be a huge support. I will never forget how people in my network have been there for me.

Please comment and share your experiences:

Nike is Just Doing it with Community

Remembering back to the days, about sixteen years ago when Nike launched the “Just Do It” campaign. I was at New England College in Henniker, NH. The Model UN Group I was a member of was putting together a Model Middle East Summit. It was a lot of work. We found each other screaming “Just Do IT” to each other all the time. It became a mantra for the organization and for many of us in our professional lives as well.

I think that Customer Self Service is basically an evolution of the “Just Do It” campaign. In reality, Nike has created a community to let their running/jogging customers AND PROSPECTS to do it together and better. In a recent NY Times article, Nike’s community was highlighted as their most recent advertising genius. They are enabling their customers to interact and find better ways to “Just Do It” all with the trademark Nike Swoosh neatly but understatedly featured. The community member they feature in the article is also 53 years old not 22 years old.

For those of you that are still looking for the hard data on why communities are essential to business, let me clearly talk to your wallet….

· Nike has dropped their traditional media budget by 22%
· That equates to 149 MILLION dollars.
· Members choose to visit the site 3x a week.

How is that for data?

Here is the crucial quote I found from the section on Nike:

“We’re not in the business of keeping the media companies alive,” Mr. Edwards says he tells many media executives. “We’re in the business of connecting with consumers.” Trevor Edwards, Nike’s corporate vice president for global brand and category management.

I will repeat a profound question recently poised by my colleague Derek Showerman:

“When are you going stop preaching to your customers and start listening to them? A community is the vehicle to JUST DO IT for you.”

Here is a link to the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/business/media/14ad.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

I want to thank the Nike Corporation for my Mantra …